--- In PMMC-NLUS@yahoogroups.com, "Pacific Merchant Marine Council" <pmmc@...> wrote:
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> http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=65863&SectionID=23&SubSectionID=393&S=1
>
> Letter: Merchant Marine left out
> On a page honoring veterans (Kid Scoop.com The Daily Astorian, Nov. 10), one member of the services was again bypassed: the U.S. Merchant Marine.
>
> Their ships took supplies to North Africa. From 1942 to 1943, our merchant fleet devoted 41 percent of capacity to U.S. Army cargo and 13 percent to the U.S. Navy. The armed services were at all times the No. 1 customer of the Merchant Marine. They were at Anzio and Naples Harbor in Italy and at the beaches of Normandy in France in 1944. They were at the Marshall Islands, and the merchant fleet helped carry the invasion to Southern France Aug. 15, 1944. They were more than a spectator at bloody Iwo Jima. Merchant ships did heavy duty in the major assault on Luzon in the Philippines.
>
> On Sept. 19, 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt honored the men and the management of the American Merchant Marines. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz said on April 23, 1944, that the Merchant Marine service has repeatedly proved to be considered as an integral part of our fighting team.
>
> Douglas MacArthur said on Oct. 14, 1945, that the Merchant Marines have brought us our life blood and paid for it with some of their own. Harry Truman said in 1951 that the Merchant Marines did their job with boldness and daring.
>
> Five thousand seven hundred of them died from enemy torpedoes, mines, bombs or bullets since zero hour at Pearl Harbor. The New York Times, on June 9, 1944, said D-Day would not have been possible without the Merchant Marines.
>
> Yes, I could go on with a lot more facts and figures, but as the wife of a merchant seaman, I can say I'm proud of the job my husband did. In name only, they have been made part of our fighting forces and I, for one, will honor his name.
>
> ROSEMARIE PETERS THOMPSON
> Warrenton
>

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